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Griffin said the job pays between $66,000 and $80,000 a year, plus benefits. The county would fill the job by hiring internally. That individual’s current job would go unfilled when he or she moves to the new one, Griffin said.

The grant money that will be used to pay for the job will run out in two years, at which time the county would re-evaluate whether it wants to keep a planner focused on energy. Finding grants will be part of the job, and whoever is hired could theoretically find a grant that would pay his or her salary, she said.

Supervisors were enthusiastic about the move.

Adam Hill called it “a crucial position,” and Jim Patterson said it was “a watershed moment for the county.”